Sophomore steps up to help Klahowya beat Charles Wright

EAST BREMERTON – It was looking rough for the Klahowya Eagles Friday night.

Their 23-0 first quarter lead had been whittled down to just three points in the third quarter after Charles Wright scored after recovering a fumble by sophomore running back Hunter Wallis.

So they needed someone to fulfill that time-worn plea of many a coach of someone stepping up and making a big play.

Wallis was that someone.

He ran 13 times for 70 yards in the second half and scored a rushing touchdown and returned an interception for another score as the Eagles overcame penalties and a vexing Tarriers team for a 44-20 victory on Homecoming night in front of a large crowd at Silverdale Stadium.

“He is a beast,” senior wide receiver Andrew Dickson said of Wallis. “I love that guy.”

Head coach Dan Ericson said Wallis performed very well in the second half.

“Those two interceptions by Hunter were huge for us,” he said. “He's a dynamic player with the ball in his hand. And he's pretty relentless.”

Wallis' big runs came at the right time, as the Eagles were without the services of senior lineman Ben Schnabel. He had suffered a concussion a few weeks ago and had a sensor installed in his helmet to monitor his head.

When the sensor went off in the second quarter, the trainer said he had to be removed from the game. Ericson said they'll monitor him through next week, but he shouldn't miss any time.

“It was a precautionary thing,” Ericson said. “To my knowledge he didn't suffer a concussion. He was having a heck of a game. He was the only one getting pressure on the quarterback.”

The Eagles also switched to a dime defense in the second half to close off the wheel route the Tarriers used repeatedly to get back into the game. They also had a couple linebackers work as a spies as well.

“Charles Wright made some good passing plays,” Ericson said. “The only passing team we've seen all year is us in practice. We broke down in coverage at times. We had to take that away, otherwise they could have run that all night.”

The defense did its job, intercepting Charles Wright quarterback Dane Jacobson three times in the second half. Klahowya also recovered a fumble as well.

Dickson also credited assistant coach H'arion Gaulden for working on the team's conditioning.

“He conditions us at practice and we've seen that this season that we're the most conditioned team out there,” he said. “When the third quarter comes up, that's when we start racking up points.”

Overcoming the adversity should serve the Eagles well as they make its stretch run for the playoffs. Ericson said they'll have to keep their composure better so as not to incur many flags.

“They rallied,” he said. “The start was good, the finish was good. The middle part got away from us a bit. We had some bad penalties. That's the first time we were in a pressure situation and honestly, that starts with me. We just lost our sideline for a bit and that filters down to our kids. So we need to refocus and work on it.”

Player of the game

Wallis finished with 24 carries for 105 yards and three touchdowns. He also intercepted two passes, running one back for a score.

Play of the game

Wallis' weaving run after his interception helped seal the win for the Eagles as he broke a few tackles en route to the end zone.

“He had a lot of green grass in front of him,” Ericson said.

What does it mean?

Klahowya (5-1, 3-0 Olympic/Nisqually 1A) keeps its league title hopes afloat as they keep pace with Cascade Christian for first place. They take on Port Townsend (2-4, 2-1) next week at 5 p.m. in another huge league matchup.

Klahowya 44, Charles Wright 20

Tarriers -- 0-14-6-0 – 20

Eagles -- 23-0-7-14 – 44

First quarter

Kla – Hunter Wallis 7 run (Andrew Dickson kick)

Kla – Dickson 22 field goal

Kla – Wallis 3 run (Dickson kick)

Kla – Dickson 44 pass from John Hartford (kick no good)

Second quarter

CW – Justin Lundberg 19 pass from Dane Jacobsen (kick blocked)

CW – Jacobsen 1 run (Jacobsen to Nathan McDougall two point conversion pass)